Putting a policy in trust

When you die, there may be inheritance tax to pay on your estate.

Your estate is everything you own at the time of death, minus anything you owe. Normally, everything you own would include any payout from a life insurance policy, but you can arrange to have most life policies written in trust. This means that instead of the payout forming part of your estate, it goes directly to whoever you nominate – for example, your partner or children.

As well as possibly reducing tax, writing a policy in trust ensures your survivors get the payout quickly instead of having to wait until your estate is sorted out, which could take months or even years. Ask the insurer about putting a life policy in trust. Usually, there is no extra charge for doing this.